Virginia men arrested for allegedly burglarizing electrical storage yard near substation

Two men were arrested near a Virginia substation for what authorities described as a burglary. 

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the 26000 block of Auburn Farm Road in Aldie, Virginia, at approximately 12:38 a.m. Saturday to a report of “two males cutting a fence” in an area of Dominion Energy property that is leased to another entity. 

The sheriff’s office did not specify what entity. 

Deputies quickly arrived at the scene and were able to locate the two suspects who had breached the electrical storage yard and place them in custody, according to the sheriff’s office. 

NEO-NAZI LEADER CHARGED IN MARYLAND POWER GRID ATTACK PLOT ARRESTED YEARS AGO AFTER ROOMMATES’ DOUBLE MURDER 

Investigators said a bag with wire cutters was recovered at the location.  

“While the incident remains under investigation, all indications point to the subjects being there to steal copper wire. Dominion Energy officials confirmed there was no breach of an adjacent Dominion Energy Substation,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook, describing the incident as a “burglary.”

Christopher J. Macmillan, 51, and Joshua L. Settle, 38, both from Manassas, were charged with possession of burglary tools, attempted larceny, trespassing, destruction of property, and conspiracy to commit larceny. Both were transported to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center. 

Macmillan is being held without bond and Settles was given a $7,500 secured bond.

Virginia State Police and the Fairfax County Police Department Helicopter Division provided assistance.  

While the substation was not breached in this incident and local investigators have not yet exposed any more sinister plot other than to steal copper wire, Homeland Security has been on alert about the U.S power grid being vulnerable to domestic terrorism, noting online calls to sabotage critical infrastructure.

Last week, the FBI arrested a Neo-Nazi leader from Florida and a female ex-convict from Maryland in connection to an alleged plot to attack five substations to sabotage the Baltimore power grid. 

Last month, two men from Washington state were arrested and charged with attacking four substations over the Christmas holiday, leaving thousands in the dark and cold. One of those defendants allegedly told investigators the motive was to cut power to burglarize an unnamed nearby business.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Still no arrests have been made in connection to the December substation gunfire in North Carolina’s Moore County that left more than 45,000 customers without power for several days. The FBI was monitoring whether more gunfire at another substation in Randolph County, NC, in January was somehow related.